The major objective is the comparative analysis of the transition in the multiple cause structure of mortality among Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants and non-Hispanic whites over the past fifty years. We will develop a unique data base that will permit a broader and more detailed investigation of the mortality experience of the Mexican origin population than has heretofore been possible. (We propose to make this data set available to other researchers following the completion of the project.) Changes in mortality over time will be studied with particular attention to differences that distinguish Mexican immigrants from Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites and causes of death that are most priminently associated with the crossover in age-specific death rates among Mexican origin as compared to anglo males. Specific aims are: 1) To develop a file of death records which span half a century (1935-1985) which are coded systematically for all conditions (multiple causes) listed as leading to death and which are comparably coded according to ethnic identification; 2) To examine 1935-1985 trends in underlying causes of death following conventional procedures including age-, sex, and cause-specific death rates and cause-deleted life tables; 3) To apply lethal defect pattern models for deletion of cause of death patterns in order to estimate the gains in life expectancy that would derive from elimination of groups of associated, as well as underlying, causes; 4) To analyze census data and data on sanitary and health services which can be expected to impact the incidence and prevalence of morbid conditions and the mortality of the populations studied. The primary data source will be original death certificates in the custody of the Bexar County Registrar at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health district. All death certificates for each year from 1935 through 1985 will be coded by nosological clerks according to NCHS standards based on the Ninth Revision of the international Classification of Diseases. The primary data base will be supplemented by coding of characteristics of decedents from death certificates, census data from the 1940-1980 Public Use Samples (PUS and 1980 PUMS), and historical data on community sanitary and health services available from the records of various state and local agencies.